Good Weather out West continues to provide favorable growing conditions throughout California and Arizona. Unfortunately poor weather across the rest of the county has shackled demand . Many lettuce growers have started to leave portions of fields behind without enough stable labor to harvest everything timely resulting in wide ranging color and texture as well as varying degrees of discoloration due to epidermal blister and peel.

Romaine and Romaine Hearts  Production remains mostly steady with good demand. Even with improved temperatures , Harvest continues to be hampered by heavy epidermal discoloration that requires extra attention in the field to prevent excessive issues upon arrival.

Red leaf, Green leaf and Boston  Demand on Leaf continue to lag behind Romaine. Color and Texture has been affected as epidermal peel and discoloration remain widespread.

Increased availability out of Santa Maria and Oxnard has dropped FOB prices slightly over the last few days. Harvest estimates coming out of both these shipping districts will be good and shippers will be looking to move product. The desert growing regions will feel the affects of this and most likely will follow suit in order to keep product moving.

Thornless production continues mostly from the South Coast with predominantly large sizes. Improving supplies in the Desert and Mexico will stabilize prices , where up til now most have been transferred from the Coast. Most Chokes remain frosted although a few from isolated areas in Mexico avoided the heavy freezing temperatures the last couple weeks and should improve quicker.

We are starting to see more volume come out of Santa Maria now that it has recovered from the rains a few weeks back. Steady volume is also arriving into the Texas Valley out of Central Mexico. Expectations are that we will begin to see better volume out of all loading areas by the end of the week. Prices will remain somewhat steady for this week but look for lower prices beginning the first part of next week.

Demand has been good but we are starting to see more product available. Prices will begin to drop by the end of this week out of all growing districts.

Northern California production rapidly comes to an end. Mexico supplies remain extremely light although weather is expected to improve over the next couple weeks which should allow for better supplies by the end of the month.

Mexico still has not returned to full production although there has been blips of improvement as the weather has been favorable.  Labor continues to be the main issue. We still anticipate better supplies sometime next week with prices expected to ease shortly thereafter . Overall quality will be varied as most growers deal with the effects of previous cold temperatures .

Supplies on strawberries are starting to increase going into the last half of January. Central Mexico regions are producing moderate volumes which should increase in the coming weeks; there is strong demand with mixed reports of quality at the border as well as logistics challenges. Florida, with colder weather, has limited supplies. The Baja region is still behind schedule following some cooler weather. Volumes should increase by late-January and the quality is generally good. California volumes in Oxnard should continue to increase and Santa Maria is also starting to harvest some new crop. California fruit is generally fair quality and may be subject to occasional bruising, misshapen, and white shoulder.

Good quality but tightening supply as Mexico heads into the downward part of the current production cycle. Expect low production through January and February, with more production coming in late early March. This is normal production cycling–typically December is the low month–but with a delayed start to the season, the low production cycle was pushed back.

Same with raspberries as blackberries, with lower production expected over the coming weeks, and more production as we head into February.

More delays in transits from Chile as many vessels have been delayed and are struggling as the shortages in vessel freight/ships are just as bad as with general road transportation. Expect a continued tight market on blueberries through January and into February, as production remains lower and is being heavily impacted by vessels.

Some white peaches available from the first vessel that recently arrived on the west coast. More vessels will be arriving this weekend with white peach, flat white peach & white nectarines. After that we have a vessel arriving late next week and another the first week of February. Both of these vessels will have White Peach and White Nectarines. More yellow peaches and nectarines will be arriving later next week. Quality has been strong overall on offshore stone fruit.

Very little fruit available this week. Supply gaps have been much longer than anticipated. This has been the most difficult week supply wise, and we expect a few more weeks of light volumes until more vessels arrive towards the middle of February. Multiple factors have caused this shortage, including slow production as a result of unfavorable weather patterns over the pas few months, labor shortages at the port, delaying the unloading of containers, and freight challenges due to lack of drivers. Expect high markets and demand exceeds supply scenarios well into next month on all colors and varieties.

Lighter supplies this week out of California and markets have been strengthening sharply this week. Some quality issues have come up as a result of recent heavy rains in the central valley. Internal rot and decay issues have been detected and shippers are doing their best to sort through the bad fruit. Sizing is peaking on 72 and 88 count. More fruit is expected over the next two weeks, and quality should start to improve as the season progresses.

Steady markets continue this week on all sizes of lemons. California lemons are peaking on 115 and 140 count sizes. Small sizes are more limited this week. Quality is very nice with very few issues to report.

Strong demand continues this week on limes. Markets have begun to top out as more volume crosses and some shippers have eased up pricing from last week. Sizing is peaking on 175 and 200 count fruit. Quality has been improving overall. Better availability on small fruit is expected in the coming weeks.

The Northwest Onion deal is winding down early. The district could clean up tomorrow if they wanted to finish. The prices are going up and this writer is getting calls from people who rarely call in looking for product. Leading indicator of supplies tightening up and demand increasing. I have a feeling we are in for a whacky ride the balance of this Northwest deal.

Fern burning is behind last year in Corborca. Normally it takes 10-14 days after burning for the spears to start appearing. The reason for this may be that Easter is late this year and many of these shipper/growers are anticipating that demand. The temperatures are right on the cusp of sparking this deal and

long range , they look like the right temps will be alright. We might see a little lag in switching from 11/1’s to 28/1’s next week which will cause a lot of people to pucker.

Once again little change. As Guatemala has wound down, Honduras has stepped up with good supplies and good quality. Sizes fairly well distributed. Demand continues to be tepid, especially with spot market sales and prices have remained steady with discounts available on slower days and less popular sizes. Next week little looks to change. Supplies will still be ample and demand tepid as once again there are no major promotions set up and food service is struggling with COVID related issues affecting restaurant and cruise ship activity. Freight rates are still quite high as many drivers are in short supply with many out sick. We look for a basically steady market next week.

Some change this week, in that Mexico came back into the picture shipping out of Nogales, although with meager volume. Like cantaloupes off shore production is shifting from Guatemala to Honduras. Quality is okay but nothing fancy. Sizes are peaking on 5s & 6s with some jbo 5s and very few 8s. Prices are elevated but steady. We see little change for next week but more supplies coming the first week in February.

Cauliflower and Broccoli   Production has slowed overall with a much cooler weather pattern the past couple weeks. While markets continue to surge higher,  better production is expected by the end of next week which should help ease prices.  Quality from the desert remains good.

Production and quality have been impacted along the coast. Improving production in Mexico and the desert will help provide more stable supply and better value as growers avoid transfer costs .

Availability has tightened in recent weeks with escalated pricing. Supplies are expected to improve next week after growers have been dealing with freezing temperatures slowing growth. and delayed harvest.

Carrot Production has slowed with much cooler and wet weather this week interrupting production . Additionally some Shipping facilities are dealing with widespread Covid which has impacted shipping . Continue to plan ahead to get full coverage. Improved weather should help by the end of the month.

Leaf, Iceberg & Romaine   Romaine and Romaine Heart production slowed with Heavy Frost last weekend as well as impacted quality with much heavier epidermal peel and blister as well as increased discoloration.    Green and Red leaf  Production has slowed due to cold overnight temperatures also resulting in increased epidermal peel and discoloration. .  Weather appears to be improving which will help production but will increase Rib Discoloration due to Epidermal peel on Arrival

Lemons, Oranges, Limes and Grapefruit   Strong demand throughout the entire Citrus category due to strong retail sales and revived foodservice activity. Mexico Lemon crop has slowed with continued heavy Choice fruit while California crop remains mostly Fancy grades although recent rains delayed harvest , sizing will be heaviest towards the larger sizes which will push smaller , retail bag size prices higher.  Lime quality and supplies remain inconsistent.  Navel production is expected to again pick up after weather delayed harvest the past couple weeks. The crop remains strong and quality has benefited  although sizing has begun to lean towards larger sizes , pushing the high demand, smaller size prices higher.  Clementines have resumed with moderate supplies although reduced yields, higher pricing is expected all season .Production of  Caras and Blood Oranges   have begun to show signs of improvement.